ShawnS

Oh man, great tires. Fantastic work. I don't think that scratchbuilding needs a literal definition. There's scratch building parts or accessories and there's modification of an existing part. Heavy modification of an existing part should fit into the scratchbuilding category. I love scratchbuilding. It's a great feeling to make something that wasn't previously available in kit or resin form that keeps you coming back for more. I've been known to make parts for projects that I have no intention of finishing any time soon. Sometimes things will just go 'click' in my head and I'll just start working on a part and won't stop until its done. Here's two examples. I made a Morris 850 grill for a project that I really wasn't into at the time. For me it was more about learning how to approach and conquer the problem of 'How To' than it was any attempt to finish something that I had started. Once I figured out that I wasn't going to use the grill any time soon I decided to give away a couple of casts of it to another builder. He asked me If I was going to do some wheels too so although I had lost interest in my Morris model at the time I made those as well. I have always got something brewing in the back of my head just waiting for that click. Scratchbuilding to me is sort of like those learning to draw books where things start off as circles, squares, cones etc.. I start with those shapes and add extra details from there. Once you start you won't look back. Cheers ShawnS

I'm loving Tamiya thin cement for my styrene work at the moment. I think that I have given up using thicker cements for good. I also use zap-a-gap CA glue for most other uses. It's mainly the availability of any products at my LHS that dictates what I use though. Cheers ShawnS

Thanks Dr Cranky it's good to be here. I'm slowly finding my way around and I'll contribute more as time goes on . Thanks Mike. Nah, I won't be casting this one. Too much hassle. Here are the induction options that I am considering. The carbs are resin casts of an AMT (Nascar?) carb that I found in my spares box and the air filters will be MCG items. Dual inline normal manifold. Dual inline Hi-rise manifold Dual cross manifold I don't have any references as which system the real car ran in the 60's but recent pics show both the cross and the regular inline manifold have been fitted in the last 20 years. I'm not realy fussed but if there are any Chev experts who would know which of the three is the optimum road race setup please feel free to share your knowledge. The Impala isn't the only American 4 door that I am building at the moment. Here is a sneak preview of a 63 Galaxie in progress. I'm still pondering these builds and am keen to get them going again after my current project. Cheers ShawnS

Hi guys, this is one that I started a while ago and I'm looking for some motivation to kick start it again. It's AMTs 62 Impala convertible with a modified roof from a 63 Impala. I am going to replicate a famous Aussie race car from the 60's. It will have the 409 under the hood and a bench seat up front. Here is what it looks like these days. I made the interior door panels before finding out that it had power windows so one of those cranks will have to come off and replaced with switches. The seats were the point at which the project stalled. I tried to replicate the ribbed pattern that AMTs Impala seats have but it came out looking too clumsy. When Revell released their 62 recently I noticed that the ribbed pattern were decals which looks more like it should. As the Revell decals won't match the seats that I am making it looks like I will have to make my own decals. What do you guys think? I think I'll end up remaking the seat any way because I'm not happy with the top of it. I don't think there is enough space between the top of the seat and the rectangular pattern. It's been a while since I started this but I feel If I can get the seats sorted out, I can quickly finish it. Cheers ShawnS

Thanks guys. Hi Scott I bought it from thepartsbox.com.au Their webshop isn't in action at the moment (that's why I didn't put a proper link) but they should be back in action soon with something new for you Aussie car and Mad Max fans. Cheers ShawnS

Hi again. Here is some more Aussie flavour for the forum. It is a HK Holden Monaro GTS made from ThePartsBox resin kit. It's curbside with Tamiya light blue paint and assorted decals from the spares box. I didn't do too much to it just drilled out the moulded in headlights and replaced them with buckets and lenses from my spares box. It has metal bumpers from a Cavalier Resin Monaro kit a Tamiya bullet mirror and the exhaust is from a Nascar kit. I also added rear 1/4 windows and wheels from a Mustang GT350R. I added a fire extinguisher and a gauge cluster and detail master belts and MCG window cranks. I would have liked to put in some racing bucket seats but it would have involved having to cut out the moulded in seats and remaking the door panels, which is something that was beyond my skills at the time. I hope you like it, Thanks for looking. Cheers ShawnS

Perfect. That's all I can say.

That's a nice and clean 80's mean machine. I like the subtle dry brushing underneath and the super black paint job. Well done.

I love the dent and the not so glossy paint for a well worn look Nice work..

Brilliant. I tried one of those revell F1 cars once. Once was plenty. You did exceptionally well. It looks close to the real thing.

Stunning. Everything is so clean and neat. I would never have thought that orange and grey would work so well. Nice work.

Outstanding work. Lovely juicy wet paint job. Plus bonus points for four doors and Right Hand Drive.

Holy cow!! That thing is crazy awesome man. You have some fantastic skills. Well done.

Thanks for the kind words guys I'm glad you like it. All I did to modify the rear window was to run a wide strip of thin evergreen around the back window of the '66 roof. The '66 roof has a little step between the window and the roof and I glued the evergreen to that and blended it in. After a little putty and some careful sanding it'll look like it should I did entertain the thought of a MCRC body for a while but because of the poor Aussie dollar at the time, I decided against it. I suppose it's one of those great mysteries as why there isn't one in styrene anyway. I would own about 20 of them if there was and I'm not alone there thats for sure. Cheers ShawnS

350 Chev. It's the first time that I detailed an engine. Cheers SS

Hi again. Here is the last model that I finished. AMT's 68 Camaro body with the chassis and most other parts from Revell's '69 Camaros.The hood is from the MPC/AMT 69 convertible It has MCG Photoetch, Keith Marks stripes and other decals from my spares box. The manifold and carbs were from Best Resin. It's the first time that I had detailed an engine to any extent. The carb linkages are made from brass rod and coke can and the fuel lines are made from evergreen, brass rod and old headphone wires. The belts are black electrical tape. I counted parts from 8 different Camaro kits so it's a true kit bash, It took me a couple of months to piece it all together and it's one of my favourites despite the grief it gave me at times. Thanks for looking. ShawnS

That is a sweet build man.

The roof makes it look like a completely different car- more modern perhaps. It looks great like that with those wheels too. Can't wait to see this one done.

I made one of those when they first came out. It's a fabulous kit but the main annoyance for me was fixing the windshield to the cowel. It will look great when you're done. Keep us posted.

Yeah that Camaro is a great kit. It puts most other AMT kits in the shade with its clean crisp detail. It's also a great source for donor parts for other Chev variants.

Hi all. As a new guy checking in to your lovely little community I figure that I better show you some of my builds. This one is the '67 Mustang that won the 1967 Australian Touring Car Championship. It's a home conversion of AMT's '67 Mustang fastback into a notchback. I used the roof off of the old AMT '66 Mustang and custom built the rear seat and door panels. I made it as a curbside because I didn't have any reference pics of the real engine. The chassis is as standard with pipes from evergreen tube and front brake cooling ducts were scratched from evergreen too. I also scratched a winged sump. Australian Touring cars ran with full interior trim up untill the mid 80's so I added flocking as well as detail master belt hardware. The decals are made up from my spares box and its finished with BMF and MCG Photo-etch. Thanks for looking. I will hopefully contribute a bit more over the coming year so keep an eye out for me. Questions and comments always welcome. CheersSS